


Wolves attired in wool

by iwearplaids, spiffycups



Category: Baahubali (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-17 20:47:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11859375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwearplaids/pseuds/iwearplaids, https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiffycups/pseuds/spiffycups
Summary: Devasena has a few suspicions about her guests. This is set after the Krishna Puja, and before the message from Sivagami.





	1. Chapter 1

Devasena dismissed her handmaidens and sat down wearily on the couch. It had been a very long day, with the hunt in the morning followed by the Krishna puja. As she took off her jewellery, she thought back to the hunt, and how Sivu had guided each of Kumaravarma's arrows. Oh, they could fool everyone, that uncle and man-child, but they wouldn't fool her.

Standing up abruptly, she walked over to the balcony and peered down to where Sivu was sleeping on a tree, his arm folded under his head. "Injury, my foot!" she muttered. Calling to her guards, she bid them fetch his uncle.

Kattappa was lying awake on the bed keeping watch. The last he had checked, the prince had fallen asleep on a tree, he was as much in love as he could be, and the Yuvarani's lullaby only made things so much worse. Pretending to be someone he was not had not put a lot of strain on him- he was born for this job, after all; but it took a lot of effort to not react to the young prince's antics.

His ears piqued to the sound of footsteps, more than one pair, heavy built, most likely the guards. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. The footsteps came closer and into the room without permission. "Hey! Wake up."  
He kept his eyes closed. Getting no reply, the guard got hold of his shoulders and shook him violently.  
"Wake up. The Yuvarani wishes your presence."   
The expression of bafflement was more real and less pretense. As curious as Kattappa was to know why the princess might need him, he was more reluctant to leave the Prince behind with no one to watch over him. Having no choice, he hoped it would be a short meeting and followed the guards.

"Yes, good evening, welcome", said Devasena as he entered and bowed to her. Her guards were under orders to stay in the room and so she paced back and forth, trying to phrase her questions in an innocuous fashion. She settled on a conversation opener, "I hope the hunt was a good experience for you." Looking at the bewilderment on his face, she wanted to slap herself. "Not, I mean, the bull hitting your nephew, uh, that was…um, very saddening, and I mean..." she trailed off in confusion.

Spinning around to face him head on, she righted herself and announced formally, "Thank you for agreeing to come down at this late hour. I wish to ask you what exactly you do. Your nephew behaves like a simpleton, and is assisted by you, but what is your day job?"

"Well, Yuvarani, you know people like me, we do any job we can get our hands on." he looked truly uncomfortable at being questioned by the young princess. "Life is quite hard these days and we don't come across as much work as we used to." he glanced at Devasena, observing her reactions, "Which is why we are really grateful for your hospitality."

He hoped his meekness was not working against him as she seemed suspicious about him already.

Devasena paced around, frustrated at his diplomatic replies that had no real answers. She peeked at him, standing there, hands folded, back hunched, the perfect picture of a servant, betrayed only by his keen eyes that followed her everywhere. 'Time for a new approach. If a physical test and a direct question failed, then it's going to be an open challenge', she thought.  
"Kuntala prides itself on providing for our people. The caveat, of course, you would be aware of, no?" she asked.

"Yes Yuvarani, but if you could remind me of the exact wordings..."

Taking long strides, she stood inches away from him, glaring. "We require full disclosure in return for our protection and hospitality. If we find we have been deceived, the King may order the impostors to receive the death penalty."

Kattappa had no doubt that the Yuvarani would not be reluctant in punishing him, should he be found guilty. She reminded him of the Rajamatha in that way, her determination and stubbornness, the way she carried herself, straight and strong, willing to bend at nothing but her own will. However, he wasn't willing to give in that easily; he did, after all, have more experience in being interrogated. 

  
"Yuvarani, I promise you, I am not brave or smart enough to try and cause any harm to the royal family. We were just glad that we have a safe place to stay for a while. If it will calm your suspicions, I am willing to awake my nephew and leave at this very moment." He gave her his best look of innocence, the same look that Baahu said melted the coldest of hearts, even that of Bijjaladeva.

It was Devasena's turn to look uncomfortable now, and Kattappa sang the song of victory in his mind. She had invited them along to her kingdom and palace as an act of kindness, and she could never turn them away at the middle of the night because of some misplaced feeling or unproved doubts.

Rubbing her temples, she sighed. "Look here. I was trained in warfare and administration. I am not a diplomat. Can I ask you something? Will you promise to tell me the truth?" Her face was stripped bare to childlike innocence, and Kattappa could only nod. "Am I wrong in understanding that you and your nephew, if he really is that, are more than simple villagers?" her voice was soft, ashamed to admit not knowing something and unable to find out.

His silence confirmed her suspicions. She turned over her dagger in her hand, running her thumb over her name engraved in the silver handle. "Are your intentions harmful to Kuntala?"

She peered into his eyes. He stared right back. Devasena nodded and leaned back, staring at the decorated ceiling. "I have two well-muscled men, lying about their identities, taking advantage of our hospitality, living inside our palace, accompanying us everywhere, who refuse to disclose their real names and histories and purposes. Give me one good reason why I must not bring you to the guillotine this night."

The question made Kattappa ponder for a while. He was not concerned for their safety; he knew they could get out of Kuntala without any serious injuries. But was this the kind of attention they needed? This was supposed to be a stealth mission, for them to gather information, take actions when required and get out. If they were taken to the guillotine, the outcomes would be unpredictable and hard to control. Rajamatha would not be happy. On the other hand, Baahu would not be happy if he gave away who they were, and possibly ruined his happiness with his love interest. These two were truly like a pair of love birds!

"Can't think of even one reason? You never seem to be speechless any other time, do you? Always have a retort every time you almost get caught, and none now that you see the guillotine in front of you?" sneered Devasena.

"Do as you see fit, Yuvarani. A lowly subject as myself never gets a say in his fate."   
Seeing a very frustrated princess, he had a change of heart. Maybe she would understand, and the secret would be theirs to keep.  
"But, hypothetically, what would you do if I confessed to our, hypothetical, real identity?"

Devasena smiled, satisfied. "If you confessed, hypothetically, it would satisfy my curiosity and you'd continue to have a safe place to stay."

"And what you say if we were powerful members of the Mahishmati kingdom?"   
Devasena's face turned hard, harder than it was earlier.  
The older man quickly corrected himself, "Hypothetically of course."

She took measured breaths, running through contingency plans in her mind. They could not be spies, they were acting too overt for that. Some sort of minister? Sivu was too young to be a minister- unless he was a Prince. Her mind stuttered. _Actual royalty_. She was hosting royalty under her roof, had insulted them countless times, and had assaulted a Prince with the strongest bull, maimed him intentionally, housed them in servant quarters, and had now threatened them with death. Devasena sat down heavily, breathing hard.

Her mind blanked. There was nothing she could do. She supposed she herself was a few days away from being imprisoned, as a Prisoner-of-War of course, because these men were here as the forerunners to the Mahishmati army arriving behind them. Any day now, Kuntala would be laid siege and forcibly conquered by Mahishmati.

She was furious about their deception, but there was nothing she could do about it. 'We should have been more wary, more suspicious of simpletons who survived ravaging bandits, who split tree trunks with a single blow, who face a mad bull head on and walk away with a dislocated shoulder. We have been utter fools!', she thought morosely.

"There would be no use in asking you the real reason now, would there?" she laughed wryly. "Well then hypothetically, I would beg for your forgiveness and arrange to have you moved into the guest suite right away and come sunrise, my brother the King would, hypothetically, meet with you and discuss the hypothetical reason for your visit."

"Yuvarani, you mustn't ask for forgiveness from a subject such as myself. Mahishmati does not want to cause any harm to you or your kingdom." He did not add 'Hypothetically' as it was too late to play around plausible deniability now. "My nephew and I, would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to let us stay a few more days."

Kattappa continued to be meek, not with the hope that she would take him for a common man bit with the hope that she would take his promise to heart, that they weren't here to cause her any harm, that their intentions were quite the opposite.

"As you wish. I will be keeping a closer eye on you and your nephew of course. I will not offer to help you right away, but if you might explain your motive I can arrange for resources if you wish. Hypothetically of course" she added with a smile.

"I assume that Your Highness will not be sharing our hypothetical conversation with anyone else." He bowed and left.


	2. In the thick of things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devasena meets Sivu. Is the deception over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings apply.

Waking up before dawn, Devasena headed to the grounds, pulling on her armour as she walked. As she crossed the prayer halls, the fragrance of the dying flowers registered in her sleepy mind. _‘Krishna puja_ ’, she reminded herself and tied up her hair. Her thoughts flitted in a dreamlike state from the memories of the previous evening. The puja, the songs, the Queen teasing her, the man and his broken arm, his uncle wailing, the midnight revelation… she stopped suddenly, breathing faster. She looked around, almost expecting those spies to pounce her.

Across the field, Baahubali arose the moment his Yuvvrani did. Stretching, to ease the aches of falling asleep on a tree, he looked to the palace where Devasena had been singing him to sleep. Looking into the room, he noticed that Kattappa was still asleep. Not surprising, seeing that even the sun hadn’t come up. He tiptoed quietly out of the room, letting the older man rest while he ventured out into the palace premises expecting to see no one except the watch-guards.

At the precise moment she resumed walking, she heard a rustling on the grass and turned.  _'Think of the Devil and he manifests'_. 

Internally cursing, she turned and stared at him. He was walking toward her, still affecting the act of a dumb servant. Devasena thought about it for the seconds he made his way to her.  _'If you can play with me, oh, watch how I play with you’_ , she thought.

Beckoning to him, she called out, “Prince Kumaravarma taught you how to wield a knife yesterday. Show me how well you learnt, man!”

He looked over Devasena, drooping his shoulders, he adopted his stutter again. “Kuma - .. But … He .. I didn’t get to learn anything yesterday … he ripped a log of wood. Re… Remember ?” Seeing Devasena displeased, he tried another route. “Yuvvrani could .. t – teach me ? I’ve se … I’ve seen you excel .. excel at weapons.”

_'Not bad, by God. Now I teach him and he gets to learn just how skilled I am’_  , she thought. She was still appraising him quietly. As a long moment passed, she watched him squirm, delighting in his faked discomfort. A thought popped up in her mind unexpectedly,  _'I want to see you kingly and majestic, not cowering like this’_. The thought surprised her and she blinked a few times, clearing her mind.

“Pick it up!” She pointed at the pile of swords on the far end of the range. “Pick it up like he taught you”, she called after his retreating form.

He went forward to pick it up. Being careful to seem as though he’d paid attention to his previous lessons, but not as though picking swords were second nature to him. He held it in both hands, just as Kumaravarma had, and demonstrated a light swing to Devasena. He looked to her for approval, knowing full well that he wouldn’t get any. 

She nodded and gestured him to come forward. She slipped into the dueling position and he mirrored her pose, feigning ignorance.  _'Time to play, Mahishmathi boy’_ , she thought viciously. Circling twice, she leaped suddenly with her sword arcing high. He dropped to the ground and covered himself with his shield.  _'oh, playing hard to get, are we?’_ ’ she thought. “Up, man! Defend yourself with dignity. Don’t behave like a moron”, she chided. “I’m going to be teaching you basics of defense today.”

She walked him through the basic five stances, lifting up his arm with her sword to correct his poses, making him do silly exercises for her own amusement. As the first birds started singing, Amarendra was doing push-ups and stretches, with a look of sincere if confused earnestness. The pale rays of the sun lit up his face, and Devasena sighed involuntarily.  _'Oh, pretty boy, why do you come to me in disguise… If only you would ask, you could have!’_  .

Much to her own surprise, she found herself correcting his position with her own hands as time grew on. The palace was coming alive, an hour after sunrise, and the sight of the well-muscled hunk swishing his sword through the air, his biceps flexing and back muscles fluidly moving, had attracted a small crowd of onlookers.

“Higher up, left hand bracing beneath, for support”, she guided. At his repeated mistakes, she dropped her own sword and held his forearm in her palm, standing partly beside him, her right arm placed on the middle of his back. “Lift, and cut”, she whispered in his ear. The grace of his movement betrayed his attempted deception. Devasena continued to hold on, the next three times he repeated the motion. Regretfully she stepped away, wishing the beginner levels had more exercises that could be done wrong. She wanted to hold him again, stand in his space, feel his gaze centred on her, their bodies moving together... Realizing how heated things had gotten and seeing the small crowd gathered around them, Baahubali slowly and unhappily stepped away. 

“Yuvvrani does it so effortlessly, must’ve taken years to learn.” His stutter was absent, being so focused on distancing himself and starting a conversation. He kept his eyes on the ground, missing the way Devasena smirked in triumph. He found himself wishing he’d met Devasena years ago. Not to say that Kattappa was a terrible teacher, he wasn’t, he was one of the best, but Baahu hadn’t enjoyed training so much in so long. Even in the silence of the early morning, he felt comfortable.

Just the two of them in a vast green yard with the cool air blanketing them and the rising sun glinting off the sword in between them.

“I have my teachers to thank”, she replied thoughtfully. “Walk with me,” so saying, she marched off to the palace. He followed behind, acutely aware of the space she put between them, and the direction she was leading them in- away from the armoury and into the gardens adjoining the bustling kitchen.

“So what do you know, apart from standing around?” She asked him with a smile. “Can you read and write?”

“Uhh .. n-no.. no. Uncle tried t-teaching me. Lo-ooong back!” his stutter returned, along with his wit.   
“But, sandcastles! I-I can b-build great sandcastles.”, he got lost in the childhood he built for himself and continued, “We used t-to live n-near a beach. I w-was the oldest of the c-chi-children there. But one day, e-everyone got tired of this simpleton a-a-and they – they … they told me to leave.” He stopped in his steps, spending a few seconds in silence, recalling his sad life as an outcast. “Uncle came with me. Because, w-we didn’t h-have anyone else. I’m an o-orphan and he doesn’t have an-anyone either.”

 She was so taken aback by his convincing narrative that she found herself questioning whether it could actually be true. Recalling the history lessons she had been taught, she was fairly certain that the king Mahadevan had died, and his wife had followed soon after, leaving behind a son. Now the question remained, was this hulking man the orphaned prince or Rajamatha Sivagami Devi’s son?

Contemplating the possibilities, she had unknowingly inched closer and was staring into his eyes, fear and confusion writ large on her face.

“Who are you?” She whispered, searching his eyes

The smile and innocence drained from his face, he took a step back, afraid that Devasena might see the truth if she looked closely. She wouldn’t be impressed if he thought him a liar and he wasn’t ready to let her know.

He let out a shaky laugh, “Ha-H-Haven’t you b-been listening, Yuvvrani?”

“Have I missed anything?” Her tone was neutral, 'guarded’ he thought.

She circled around him, a repeat of the dance they had performed this morning, this time with no swords. Devasena’s attentive was wholly on him.

It was an intimidating thing, Devasena’s attention. She seemed both expectant and neutral. A thought occured to him- what if she knew more that she was letting on ? That would explain the sudden curiosity about him and the lessons offered.

 He let out a shaky laugh, contemplating his course of action. “Of course not. You’re v-very attentive, Yuvvrani.”

If she knew the truth, it would do him better to confess. But did she? If he were to confess, would she treat him like royalty? That would mean he wouldn’t be able enjoy her gentle teasing, warm smile, enjoyable sword training.

 She could see him thinking, keen eyes darting about, although he was still looking at the ground. “Yes, I am very attentive, aren’t I?” She drawled. “I’ve noticed a few things.” Coming to stop in front of him, she continued, “Your swordsmanship is not bad at all, is it. I’ve observed that you’re a very quick learner”. Her tone held no mockery, only honest admiration.

 Her open remark made it hard for him to lie to her again. “This might not be the first time someone has taught me the way with the sword” he admitted, hesitantly, though it did come out as more of a question than as an answer.

 "Oh?“ She politely enquired. "It shows, I believe. As do a few other things.” Devasena reached over and took his hand, tracing the lines of his palm with her fingers.

 He watched closely as she murmured, “Fearless. Generosity beyond measure. Loved not, but loves well. Life-line- ” she stopped short, blinking rapidly.

 "Palmistry, your Highness?“ He asked, tilting his head.

 "A princess learns many things.” She said unthinkingly.

 Her eyes were traveling across the worn scars on his arm, as she pulled his forearm closer and turned it over curiously.

 He was nervous, more than he ever was. There was no doubt in his mind that she would figure it out. Everything. 

 This was his chance to confess, maybe then, he could get back on her good graces. Maybe if he was the one to offer the truth she wouldn’t consider it lying. 

"Do you know what else I see?", she whispered, her fingers lightly hovering over the crook of his elbow.

"What do you see, Yuvvrani?" he breathed nervously.

"You lose your stutter when its not necessary anymore. It's only a crutch, isn't it? Much like the cast you had on yesterday. Conspicuous by its absence. Now tell me, what does it mean, the strength to withstand mauling by an ox, and practicing fencing the next morning?" Was Amarendra imagining things, or was her tone more than a little sad?  She continued, "Is all strength the same? Can you withstand _anything_?"

He stared back, caught in a lie he desperately wanted out of. Devasena dropped his hand from her grasp and said with false nonchalance, "I wonder if I could withstand anything." 

“We are more alike than you realize, Yuvvrani.” he said hastily, before he could change his mind.

 "I really don’t think so", she burst out laughing. The very thought of infiltrating Mahishmathi and deceiving their royals was so preposterous that the only thing she could do was laugh. “No, no, I really think not.”

 "After all, you’re a simple villager come to learn survival skills, and I’m the heir to the throne. Couldn’t be farther apart.“, she smiled and shook her head. Peering over his shoulder, she noted, "Well here comes your uncle, you can tell him I taught you to defend yourself today.” She dismissed him and walked to her wing as Kattappa caught up with him.

He trailed behind her for a few steps, upset at the sudden dismissal, then discarded the futile movement. She was royalty here, she walked off when she wanted to. How many time had he seen his mother do the same in Mahishmathi?

He turned to face Kattappa, who was marching determinedly to meet him. “You just can’t bear to see you happy birds, can you Uncle? Always interrupting!”

"What did you tell her Baahu?“ Questioned Kattappa grimly, as he steered him across the courtyard.

 

 


End file.
